# 15

 

Caitlin Annette

 

 

Always be unapologetically yourself. This was the tone that was set during the interview process and it seems fitting to use this same phrase quoted by Caitlin Annette to set the tone for her tale as it speaks a 100% truth of being an unapologetic you.

 

Debatable studies show that more than 60% of teenage girls try to create an image to be accepted in societies where they feel acknowledged, important and accepted no matter the consequences. These outcomes of creating fake personas lead to dangerous possibilities such as peer pressure, drug abuse, vandalism and moral violations which can all lead to even more life-threatening situations. This point might be a bit exaggerated but the fact remains to be true and it can never be exclaimed enough.

 

Born in Atlanta, Georgia in the far away continent of America, Caitlin grew up with a personality of a very young strong-willed girl to an even stronger woman. A will that will no matter how many times people try to break it and control it, will always heal and grows stronger and more resilient. Growing up as a teenager, Caitlin faced many hardships during her school career where negative social altercations knocked her under her feet facing the ground where people forced her to believe that she wouldn’t amount to anything in her life. Remembering the strength that she has within her to stand up and keep on battling, Caitlin stood up every time treating these altercations as a grateful lesson and another step towards her future.

 

Keep in mind that Caitlin can’t take all the credit for being such a brave woman, as it is her parents that raised her to believe in herself and to be only herself. With a massive support system encouraging her all the way through high school, Caitlin started to lay the foundation of her own future by enrolling at Georgia State University and completing her Bachelor’s degree in Science. Caitlin agrees that investing in your education is one of the many valued choices that you will never regret, but it never really means that you would pursue a career in what you majored in. Well, that was the case for her.

 

Working part-time at a project management firm whilst undergoing her studies, she gradually learned skills of basic web development and marketing. When you mix that together with the feelings she experienced when she first traveled to South America in her junior year, then you know the world would have a smiling problem. The bite that the travel bug gave her was so far bigger than what she anticipated that it allowed her to expand her wings outside of the Americas. More specifically to Belize, Costa Rica, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Mozambique, Namibia, and finally making her current destination South Africa.

 

Although traveling can be exciting and adventurous, it can also be quite challenging as well as demanding. Especially if you are planning on staying longer than your average holiday visa would allow you and thinking of doing business in another country. After a long and adventurous journey leading up to her arrival in South Africa, Caitlin partnered with a friend of hers with a marketing business in Durban.

 

“A friend of mine had an idea for a business and asked if I wanted to come to help do the marketing. Life happened, as it almost always does and things didn’t go exactly as planned”

 

With her strong will still in full control, she allowed this small setback to take its course and travel the country to look for other opportunities. As she herself said, life happened and life paved her a path to a small coastal village in the Transkei called Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape Province, where the “the best opportunity I could have ever received” appeared. A few weeks later this opportunity gave birth to Coffeebay.co.za. A tourist website showcasing everything about Coffee Bay and more. Her golden spree of luck didn’t end there. She was noticed by an established web developer who recognized her talents and decided to train her to develop her skills even more, specifically in the wine cultured hub of the Western Cape Province.

 

Don’t let this great tale of her adventures in the tourism industry easily fool you. As with any venture, it can be very demanding and always ever changing. Caitlin knew what she was diving into. “Tourism used to be simple, grab a map and draw a path. Now, with technology, things get interesting. You can actually show people the beauty and experience in which they are looking for. But in order to do that, you must pay close attention to the way people make decisions, who’s making them and why.”

 

But remembering her roots, lessons, and tips that her parents taught her, she made sure that she grabbed onto every opportunity with a firm grasp and squeezing every ounce of goodness it had to offer. “I’m like a sea turtle. I will migrate too many different oceans and land, but will always follow my way back to my own beach.

 

And this is the point that I would like to repeat as well. Grab onto every opportunity life throws your way no matter the size it will be or the impact it will have without compromising yourself and what you have learned from others. People strive their whole lives to find happiness and it might have been offered to at some point down the line but sadly they the fear of taking sometimes keeps you from taking it ultimately living with that regret.

 

Like Caitlin, practice to be fearless, learn to be adventurous and ultimately love yourself and what you have achieved in your life. Be an unapologetic you and spread your wings beyond their extent.

 

Find out what Caitlin has done for herself on Coffeebay.co.za and go2websites.co.za. One click away might turn into collaborating with a key individual that will set you on your own golden highway of adventures.

 

Cheers for this week.

 

WA